KTAR (620 AM) is the callsign for a radio station in Phoenix, Arizona. It airs programming from ESPN Radio, in addition to KMVP-FM-acquired broadcast rights for local teams, and became a full affiliate of ESPN Radio effective September 15. KTAR is owned by Bonneville International Corporation. Its studios are located in Phoenix near Squaw Peak and its transmitter is near the corner of 36th Street and Thomas Road in Phoenix.

KTAR began in June 1922 as KFAD, Arizona's first radio property. In 1929, the station was purchased by the owners of the major newspaper in Phoenix, The Arizona Republic, who changed the call letters to KREP (for REPublic). In 1930, the call letters changed to the present KTAR (for "Keep Taking the Arizona Republic"). [3][4]

In the early 1930s, KTAR collaborated with the Phoenix Union High School and the Phoenix Adult School to present the KTAR School of the Air. An article in Broadcasting magazine recognized the program's success after two years' operation, noting that in 1932 students "were scattered in 61 Arizona cities and towns and in California, New Mexico, Utah and other adjacent areas in the southwest ... [including] many of the disabled World War veterans quartered in the veterans' hospitals at Prescott and Tucson."[1]

From 1939 to 1975, KTAR was the flagship of a statewide radio network called the "Arizona Broadcasting System"; this network had affiliates in key Arizona towns and cities such as Tucson, Globe, Prescott and Yuma.

In 1944, the Republic sold KTAR to Chicago, Illinois advertiser John J. Louis, Sr. In 1955, Louis bought two-year-old KTYL-TV (channel 12), Phoenix' second television station, from Harkins Theatres, and changed the call letters to KVAR-TV. In 1959, KVAR-TV became KTAR-TV. The same year, the stations moved to a new studio on Central Avenue in Phoenix. The Louis family bought several other broadcasting interests in the 1960s. Eventually, the Louis broadcasting interests became known as Pacific & Southern Broadcasting, headquartered in Phoenix with KTAR-AM-FM-TV as the flagship stations.

In 1968, Pacific & Southern merged with a local billboard advertising business owned by Karl Eller and became known in 1973 as Combined Communications Corporation. John J. Louis Jr. was Chairman of the new Company and Karl Eller the CEO.

In 1979, after Louis and Eller merged their media empire with Gannett in what was then the largest media merger in U.S. history. The FCC barred Gannett from keeping both the radio stations and KTAR-TV (now KPNX). KTAR was acquired by Pulitzer Publishing Company, the then-owners of Tucson's major morning newspaper, the Arizona Daily Star. KPNX kept the Central Avenue studio.

At the start of 2011, KPNX moved from its location on Central Avenue, where the station had been since 1959, to the building that houses the Arizona Republic at 200 East Van Buren in downtown Phoenix.

The station was purchased by Hearst-Argyle in 1999, then Emmis Communications in 2001, and in 2004 by Bonneville as part of a multi-station swap with Emmis. [5] Ironically, when it was sold to Bonneville, it began a news-sharing relationship with KPHO-TV: it was once sister to rival KPNX.

In 2006, Bonneville bought another Emmis property, CHR formatted KKFR-FM 92.3, licensed to Glendale, with intents to simulcast the AM property. KKFR would become KTAR-FM to match its new ownership. On 18 September of that year, KTAR started the simulcast.[2][3] KKFR's intellectual property was sold to Riviera Broadcast Group. In turn, Riviera bought KKLD in Prescott Valley, which was moved to Mayer in order to put in a better signal to Phoenix. The result was a new KKFR on 98.3 FM. The simulcast continued until 1 January 2007, when 92.3 became the home of the news/talk format and the format of ESPN Radio-affiliated KMVP moved to 620.[4] Both stations retained the KTAR call letters.

Until April 14, 2007, KTAR used to simulcast on KMVP at 860 kHz, also owned by Bonneville.

While KMVP aired an extensive lineup of shows from ESPN Radio, KTAR has decided to air mostly local shows. For example, only the first two hours of Mike and Mike in the Morning is aired on Sports 620. KTAR does air ESPN Radio play-by-play if the schedule allows.

On January 6, 2014, KPKX became an FM simulcast of KTAR, and 620 AM changed its name to Arizona Sports Now On 98.7. Due to there already being a KTAR-FM on 92.3, the callsign of 98.7 was changed to KMVP-FM about a week later. On July 10, 2014, owners Bonneville Broadcasting announced Arizona Sports would move exclusively to 98.7 effective September 15. KTAR-AM then became a full affiliate of ESPN Radio as ESPN Phoenix 620 AM.